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'Watchmen' no match for 'Witch Mountain'

Disney film tops weekend b.o. with $25 million

Warner Bros.' "Watchmen" wilted under the pressure in its second weekend as Disney's family adventure "Race to Witch Mountain" sped to No. 1 with $25 million in estimated opening grosses.

"Watchmen" dropped a big 67% from its opening domestic grosses to register $18.1 million in second place. Universal's Rogue-produced horror pic "The Last House on the Left" bowed in third place with $14.7 million, while Fox Atomic's youth comedy "Miss March" stumbled into theaters with just $2.4 million in 10th place.

Industrywide, the $101 million weekend represented a 16% decline from the same frame last year, according to Nielsen EDI. It was only the second year-over-year weekend decline this year, with industryites citing a tough comparison with a year-ago session topped by the $45 million opening of "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!"

The industry boxoffice is tracking 2% ahead of the same portion of last year, at $1.88 billion. But the year-to-date uptick is deceptively modest due to seasonal fluctuations in the boxoffice calendar.

Among the latest weekend's limited bows, Overture unspooled its Amy Adams-Emily Blunt starrer "Sunshine Cleaning" in four New York and L.A. theaters and grossed $214,000. That represented a mind-bending $53,500 per venue, boding well for a planned expansion into 15 additional markets Friday.

Samuel Goldwyn/IDP bowed military documentary "Brothers at War" in seven locations in five markets and grossed $35,040, or an acceptable $5,0006 per site. The Jake Rademacher-helmed pic will expand into 15 additional markets March 27.

And Capitol Films debuted romantic drama "Edge of Love" with a single engagement to gross $3,614.

Elsewhere in the specialty market, IFC Films expanded its Italian-language mob drama "Gomorrah" by 14 theaters for a total of 39 and grossed $159,100, or a middling $4,049 per venue, with a cume of $793,723.

IFC added eight playdates for a total of 13 for its Swedish drama "Everlasting Moments" and grossed $62,400, or $4,800 per engagement, as cume reached $119,220.

Sony Pictures Classics added two playdates for a total of seven for its Russian courtroom drama "12" and grossed $12,041, or a thin $1,720 per engagement. Cume hit $30,797.

SPC added 32 locations for a total of 120 for its French drama "The Class" and grossed $365,458, or an acceptable $3,045, with a $2.5 million cume.

The Weinstein Co. added 12 locations for a total of 38 for its Harrison Ford-Ashley Judd starrer "Crossing Over" and grossed $103,024, or just $2,711 per site, with a cume of $273,000.

And Liberation/Vitagraph expanded its Japanese graphic-novel adaptation "Tokyo!" from a single playdate to six in grossing $20,300, or an acceptable $3,383, with a cume of $52,610.

PG-rated "Mountain" is a reworking of 1975's "Escape to Witch Mountain" with Dwayne Johnson in the starring role. Other cast members in the Andy Fickman-helmed family-oriented pic include Carla Gugino, who also co-stars in "Watchmen."

"Headed into the weekend, we thought it was going to be a three-way race, but we're very pleased to be at the top of this heap," Disney distribution topper Chuck Viane said. "It was very competitive."

"Mountain" drew audiences comprised 68% of family patrons. Males accounted for 51% of its opening audiences, with 56% of patrons under age 25.

Warners has estimated production costs on "Watchmen" -- which now totes a $86 million cume -- at $120 million, though some industry estimate set the figure higher. Legendary Pictures and foreign-rights holder Paramount helped defray production costs, and Fox is in line for a cut of receipts following a court-supervised settlement of claims to distribution rights.

Execs took the bigger-than-anticipated decline in sophomore-session grosses in stride.

"The drop is in line with other high-profile openings, and it's within the norm," Warners exec vp distribution Jeff Goldstein said. "'Sex and the City' dropped 63% and went on to gross $153 million."